Apparatus for controlling actions at a distance.



J. GARDNER. APPARATUS FOR GONIBOLLJNG AGTlflNS AT A DISTANCE.

(Applicgtion filad Dec. 30, 1901.) (No Model.) I V 3 Sheets-Shgat I.

No. 693,597. Patented Fab. l8, I902.

No. 693,597 .Patented- Feb. l8,'|902.

J. GARDNER. APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING ACTIONS AT A DISTANCE.

(Application med'nee.so, 1901.) -(No Model.) I 3Shaets-Sheai -2,

W a'r E 55515 1 NVENToR No. 693597. Patented m. 18, I902.

I J. GARDNER. I

APPARATUS FOR CONTBULLING-ACTIQNQAI A msrnnca.

. (Axmlicptipn filed Dec. 80, 1901.] (No' lod a L)" 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

limlm ........r- "MUTE rrnn L STATES PATn jr OFFICE.

. onN GARDNER, or FLEETWOOD, ENGLAND.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters latent No. 693,597, dated February18, 1902.

Application filed December 30,1901. Serial No. 87,781. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that'L'JOHN GARDNER, a 'su bject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at Knott End, Fleetwood, in the county of Lancaster,England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forControlling Actions at a Distance, of which the following is aspecification.

It is known that certain simple actions, of which the steering of atorpedo and the operation of a telegraphic instrument are examples, canbe controlled from a distance by the aid of etheric undulations, such asl-lertzian waves.

The object of my invention is to control separately or simultaneously-aplurality of actions at a distance through the agency of ethericundulations. For example, I may have a torpedo or submarine vesselwithout a crew in a state of rest and from the distant transmitting andcontrolling station may start and stop it at will, steer it in anydesired direction, and explode a contained charge or compel it to returnto its own or any station if not exploded. Similarly, distantsignal-stations, automobiles, dirigible balloons, lightstations, and thelike may be controlled.

At the transmitting-station I have an installation comprising the usualapparatus employed in ordinary wireless telegraphy and including a Morsekey or a mechanical device whereby I can, periodically close thetransmittingcir'cuit (a) by closures of constantly uniform length withgreater or with less intervals between them or (b) by closures ofgreater or of less length with uniformly equal intervals between them inall cases. In other words, I arrange that for each action or operationat a distance there shall he a different sum of the periods oftransmission in unit time. In the receptor, which may be a torpedo-boat,signaling or'lighting station, or the like, I arrange areceiving-circuit comprising a receiving-wire,coherer, relay andbattery, a decoherer, if required,an electrically-controlled motor, acentrifugal governor driven by the motor, a plurality of local electriccircuits with terminals normally open, and a circuit-closer operated bythe muff of the governor. The motor-circuit is opened and closed by therelay in the receiving-circuit, so that the work done in the motor is 1exactly proportionate to the transmission at the distantcontrolling-station, and it follows that the speed of the centrifugalgovernor, and consequently the position of the circuitcloser, can thusbe exactly determined to close one or other of the local circuits, asmay be desired.

I will more particularly describe my said invention with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a plan view, andFig. 2 a transverse section along the line m :r, Fig. 1, of theapparatus contained in the receptor. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation ofthe decoherer shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows in plan view a meremodification of the construction illustrated by Fig. 1, andFig. 5 showsa transverse section along the line y y, Fig. 4. Figs.

6, 7, 8 9, and 10 are diagrams illustrating successive positions of thecircuit-closer shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 11 is a diagram-showing a differentarrangement of the local circuits and circuit-closer. Figs. 12 and 13show, respecmittin g device which I may employ; and Fig. 14,cross-sections of the transmitting device in two positions, drawn to alarger scale.

The receptor apparatus, which I have illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2, hasbeen designed for the control of three local circuits only; but whenrequired there may be a greater or less number than three. Inatwin-screw torpedo, for example, the local circuits may control orinclude, first, the port motor; second, the starboard motor, and, third,the exploder or fuse. p i

In each of the figures where the parts are represented, a is the aerialor receiving wire, 11' a battery, I) an earth connection, r a tele-'graphic relay, and c a coherer, all in orconnected with the receivingcircuit (1. The motor-control circuit e includes the battery the springg, Fig. 1, and the lever Z, Fig. 1. This lever carries opposite to themagnet poles an armature h, so that this armature, together with thelever, is attracted toward the magnet each time that the circuit isclosed by the relay. This movement of the lever lifts its tailpiece fromcontact with the fiat spring g and opens the motor-circuit. The armaturebeing no longer attracted is pulled tively, a plan view and elevation ofthe transb, the relay-tongue t, the contact-terminal f,-

back by the spring i, and these movements are successively repeated solong as. transmission continues.

A spindle j, carried in the pivots 7t 7;, has mounted upon it thecentrifugal governor m and a ratchet-wheel w. *The upper end of thelever Z has pivoted to it the pawl 11, engaging with the teeth of theratchet-wheel w. The vibratory motion of the lever thus produces rotarymotion in the centrifugal governor. The muff o of the centrifugalgovernor is connected through the cranked lever q with the sliding barit, which carries the circuit-closer .2. On opposite sides of the bar aare arranged terminal plates 1 1', 2 2', and 3 3' of the local circuits1 2 3, which terminals may be bridged or connected by the circuit-closer.e' successively or otherwise.

It is known that in apparatus for receiving etheric undulations in whicha coherer is employed a decoherer is not required in some cases wheregreat sensitiveness is not necessary; but if and when a decoheringapparatus is desirable it may be of the ordinary construction, as nowemployed in Wireless telegraphy; but I find thatthe decoherences' actingon a brake-pul1ey 1/.

may be less frequent. For this reason I may employ the means illustratedby Figs. 1 and 3 or the means hereinafter described with reference toFig. 4. As illustrated by Fig. 1, I fix upon the end of the shaft 3' atappet j, which vibrates the bent lever Z and insures the tapping of thecoherer in proportion to the speed of the governor. The coherer' shouldin any case be isolated from any other source of percussive motion bybeing-bedded in felt or otherwise.

The motor illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2 may be equally well substitutedin cases where it can be wound up from time to time by the mechanical orclockwork motor illustrated by Figs. 4 and 5. The terminal plates of thelocal circuits also may be differently arranged, as indicated by Flg. 4.The speed of the clockwork-motor p, which drives the governor only, iscontrolled by the brake y, The spindle j may-form an extension of themotor-spindle or be parallel with it and be driven thereby through thewheels 19 p. The wheel 19" is loose on the governor-shaft and carries apawl 72, engaging with a ratchet-wheel w on the spindle j. The governorwill thus continue its rotation after the brake has been put on. Anelectromagnet e is in a circuit including a battery I) and therelay-tongue t. Normally the brake is held on by the spring 8, and itwill be lifted by the attraction of the electromagnet c at the oppositeend of the brake-lever Z as often as the movement of the relay-tonguecloses the magnetcircuit. It follows that the result is precisely thesame as when the motor shown by Figs. 1 and 2 is usedthat is to say, thegovernor will run at a higher speed with a greater frequency oftransmission or with a greater duration of transmission in unit time,and

the reverse. The circuit-closer 2 (shown by Fig. 4) moves through thearc of a circle instead of reciprocating in a straight line, the closer2 being on one end of the lever q, fulcrumed between the center of thelever and the muff of the governor. The coherer is tapped by the leverZ, vibrated by a. tappet j on the spindle j, rotated from the spindle jby the wheels w, of which there are shown two pairs, giving differentspeeds, by sliding the wheels on the parallel shaft so that one or otherof them gears with one of the wheels on the shaft j, as in otherwell-known changegear devices.

Referring now to Figs. 6 to 11, inclusive, it will be seen that in Fig.6 the circuits 1, 2, and 3 are arranged and the circuit-closer is in theposition indicated by Fig. 1. Assuming, again, that the receptor is atwin-screw torpedo, with the position illustrated by Fig. 6 the torpedois at rest, no transmission taking place. In Fig. 7 transmission istaking place at the lowest speed, the governor is rotated at its lowestspeed also, and the port-motor circuit 1 is momentarily closed. The rateof transmission on being instantly increased to the second speed, theincreased speed of the governor brings the circuit-closer over theterminals of both the circuits 1 and 2, Fig. 8. Consequently both thescrew-motor circuits being closed the torpedo travels a straight course.If now the speed be diminished or increased, either the starboard or theport motor will be cut out, the other remaining in work, and the courseof the torpedo will diverge accordingly. The rates of speed for thecircuits 1 and 2 are much less than for the circuit 3,which includes theexploder or fuse. In the diagrams, Fig. 6 shows a state of rest; Fig. 7,the port motor working only; Fig. 8, portand starboard motors bothworking; Fig. 9, starboard motor only at work, and Fig. 10 both motorsstopped and eXploder-circuit closed. In the diagram Fig. 11 a differingarrangement of the local circuits in the receptor is shown. Here anindependent motor M is shown to drive the propeller from a battery 4. 1is part of a circuit including the starboard servomotor, 2 part of acircuit including the port servomotor, and 3 part of the exploder orfuse circuit. On one side of the reciprocating bar a each of thesecircuits has a terminal-plate,the other terminal on the opposite sidehaving the common terminal plate 5. The circuit 4 is connected with thetwo broad terminal plates6 6, and the baru carries two circuit-closingbridge-pieces z z. By inspection of the diagram it will be seen thatfrom the moment of starting the apparatus by the commencement oftransmission the drivingcircuit 4 will continue to be closed by thebridge-piece z, whatever circuit may be closedby the bridge-piece z.\Vith the illustrated arrangement of the circuits one end of thebridge-piece .2 will be upon the insulation '7, between the contacts forcircuits 1 and 2, for a straight course, so that neither of the ICOlocal circuits 1, 2, or 3 is closed when second rate of transmission,reckoning fromthe lowest, is in operation. If the rate of transmissionbe reduced to the first or lowest, the starboard servomotorl will beclosed, or if the third rate of transmission be used the port-servomotorcircuit 2 will be closed only. With the highest rate of transmission inuse the exploder or fuse circuit 3 will be closed. Hence the control ofthe several local circuits is effected in substantially the same manneras already described with reference to Figs. 6 to 10, inclusive. I haveexperimentally found that so long as the receptor can he observed by theoperator there is no difficulty whatever for an expert operator inaccurately controlling the receptor.

The rate of transmission when the periods of contact in the transmitter{are to be unequal and their times equal may be controlled by the devicerepresented by Figs. 12, 13, and la. The crank 10 is rotated byclockwork or other uniformly-moving mechanism and is connected by therod llywith the duplex rocking arm 12, capable of being oscillated onthe spindle 12', by the crank. On the same spindle there is centered thesegment 14:,one half of the periphery of which is a conductor and theother half a non-conductor of electricity. Above and in contact with theperiphery of the segment there is carried by the duplex arm a springcontact-maker 13. When the segment is adjusted in the vertical positionshown by Fig.13 and fixed in thatposition, the spring 13 in itsto-and-fro movement will not reach the conducting portionof thequadrant. Consequently there will be no transmission. If the segmentbemoved and fixed to the left, the duration of the periods of contact willincrease. The strokes being equal.

in time and the periods differing, the desired range in the rates oftransmission may be obtained by fixing thesegment in the correctposition, which may be easily done by a hand 15, fixed upon shaft 12 andmoving infront of a graduated quadrant 16. By an obvious modificationthe segment 14: may be a-fixture and the crank by theintercalation ofchangewheels may be made to rotate more quickly or slowly. This'rnodifioation gives equal closures and difierent times ,pand the resultis the same. In Figs. '12 and 13 no parts of the transmitting-circuitare shown; but it will be understood that one pole is connectedv withthespring 13 and the other pole with the conducting portion of theperiphery of the segment. Cross-sections of the periphery of' thesegment are shown in Fig. 14, where the spring 13 is represented'asbeing in the conductive and non conductive positions, respectively.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isi 1. Inapparatus for controlling diverse actions at a distance, a device fortransmitting etheric undulations at a variable rate from thecontrol-station, a receiving-circuit in the receptor including acoherer, a battery and a relay, a decoherer, a motor, a motor-controlcircuit opened and closed by the relay, a centrifugal governor driven bythe motor, di-

verse local circuits having contiguous terminals, and a circuit-closeroperated by the centrifugal governor and adapted to open and close thelocal circuits separately or in plurality, substantially as set forth.

2. In apparatus for controlling diverse actions at a distance, a devicefor transmitting etheric undulations at a variable rate from thecontrol-station, a receiving-circuit in the receptor including a coherera battery and a relay, a motor, a motor-control circuit opened andclosed by the relay, a centrifugal governor driven by the motor, diverselocal circuits having contiguous terminals, and a circuitoloser operatedby the governor to open and close the local circuits separately or inplurality, substantially as set forth.

3. In a receptor in which diverse actions are controlled from a distanceby etheric undulations, a receiving-circuit including a coherer abattery and a relay, a decoherer, a motor, a motor-control circuitopened and closed by the relay, a centrifugal governor driven by themotor, diverse local circuits having contiguous terminals, and acircuitcloser operated by the centrifugal governor and adapted to openand close the local circuits separately or in plurality, substantiallyas set forth.

4. In a receptor in which diverse actions are controlled from a distanceby etheric undulations, a receiving-circuit including a coherer abattery and arelay, a motor, a motorcontrol circuit opened and closed bythe relay, a centrifugalgovernor driven by the motor, diverse localcircuits having contiguous terminals,and a circuit-closer adapted toopen and close the local circuits separately orin plurality,substantially as setforth.

5. In a receptor in which diverse actions are controlled from a distanceby etheric undulations, a motor, a motor-control circuit areceiving-circuit, a relay in said receivingoircuit arranged to open andclose the motorcontrol circuit, a'centrifugal governor driven by themotor, diverse local circuits having contiguous terminals, and acircuit-closer adapted to open and close the local circuits separatelyor in plurality, substantially as set forth.

6. In a receptor in which diverse actions by the motor, and a slidingpart connected with the governor and adapted to open and close diverselocal circ uits,substantially as set forth. I

7. In a receptor in which diverse actions are controlled from a distanceby etheric undulations, a centrifugal governor, a ratchetof the periodsof transmission, the said means comprising a segment having part of itsperiphery conductive and part non-conductive, a contact-spring capableof being moved upon the periphery of the segment, and a rotated crankreciprocating the spring through a connecting-rod, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing wit- DGSSGS.

JOHN GARDN ER. Witnesses THOMAS Woons, JOHN J AOKSON.

